Let’s face it: not all agents are the marketing gurus they think they are. Unfortunately, some of those bad puns and awkward photos make it to their advertising materials.

Homebuyers in Canada’s larger city centres are wising up to the fact that home prices aren’t about to tumble, sending February sales through the roof.

In Toronto, 6,338 properties were sold through the MLS, representing an 11.3 per cent increase from the same month last year.

“Even with the record low temperatures last month, we still saw an increase in the number of people purchasing homes in the GTA,” said Paul Etherington, president for the Toronto Real Estate Board. “This speaks to the importance households place on home ownership and the fact that buyers continue to view ownership housing as a quality long-term investment in which they can live.”

Unlike last year, extreme weather – and the coldest February on record – didn’t keep buyers away from the Toronto market. Instead, would-be homeowners were eager to break into the market as soon as possible.

Sales of detached properties rose 13.9 per cent in February, making up about half of all Toronto sales that month. Most of those sales occurred outside the city proper, both demand for land in the City of Toronto drove prices up 8.9 per cent to $1.04 million – a first for a single calendar month.

Townhouse and condo sales also increased year-over-year, rising 13.6 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. Average condo prices in the city’s core, however, fell almost one per cent in February to $369,655.

“The strong year-over-year price growth we experienced in February points to the robust demand for ownership housing in the GTA, coupled with a constrained supply of homes for sale in some market segments, especially where low-rise home types like singles, semis and townhouses are concerned,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s director of market analysis.

On the West Coast, Vancouver reported a staggering 21 per cent increase over the year-ago period, rising to 3,061 properties. February sales were also 60 per cent higher than in January, and 20.2 per cent above the city’s 10-year average.